About 10,000 Nigerians are in jail in foreign countries, especially in Europe and Asia. PAUL ARHEWE reports that these citizens who ran away to be free from the economic misfortune at home before they were caught on the wrong side of the law, are, however, rejecting government’s move to bring them back home.
The number of Nigerians serving prison terms in foreign countries continues to rise.
It is estimated that about 9,000 Nigerians are in jail overseas, mostly in Europe and Asian countries.
These Nigerians who have run afoul of the laws of their host countries include the millions who have left the country in droves since the economy nose-dived.
In the 80s and 90s, the exodus of Nigerians to overseas was embarked upon by professionals and intellectuals, in what has come to be known as “
brain drain.” These were class of people that were uncomfortable with the military regimes or those who were being hounded by the military dictatorship of the era.
Since returning to civilian rule over 14 years ago and still without a change in the economic fortune of citizens, the next set of Nigerians “checking out” are mostly youths, who get involved in crimes, especially drug trafficking with a view to amassing wealth fast. In the process, they get caught by the law and are jailed or in some countries, executed.
Investigations have also revealed that among Nigerians in prisons abroad, many are incarcerated because of immigration misdemeanors.
Efforts of the Nigerian government, past and present, aimed at reducing the number of its citizens languishing in foreign prisons may not have achieved the desired objective, as available data have shown that Nigerians continue to top the list of Africans in some foreign jails, especially in Europe and Asia.
Government’s efforts at securing the release of some of these prisoners may not have yielded the desired result, not because of its ineptitude in handling the diplomatic process of negotiating for their freedom or because of negligence. Findings have revealed that some Nigerians in some foreign prisons, rather than returning home, sometimes put a spanner in the works of efforts seeking to free them.
But there is no official statistics on the total number of Nigerians in foreign prisons and those willing or unwilling to be assisted by the Federal Government.
The outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Olugbenga Ashiru, recently said there were about 9,000 Nigerians in various prisons abroad.
“The highest numbers of 752 are in UK prisons while most of them are in Asian-Pacific on death row,” Ashiru said.
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Cross section of participants at the 13th Brainstorming
Session of the
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on the Plight of
Nigerians in
Foreign Prisons held recently at the Institute.
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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), however, recently accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of neglecting existing laws that would bring about accurate data of Nigerians in foreign jails.
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L-R: Comptroller General, Nigerian Prisons Service, Mr.
Zakari Ibrahim
and Elder Statesman Chief Arthur Mbanefo at the Brainstorming
Session.
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In the absence of reliable data on the number of Nigerians in foreign jails, it becomes a difficult task, even if government chooses to seek for their transfer home or make a plea bargain for their freedom.
National Mirror recently approached the UK Government relying on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and consequently, the British Ministry of Justice (MoJ) sent the accurate number of Nigerians in their prisons.
As at March 31, 2013 there were 545 Nigerians in prisons in England and Wales. This figure was made up of 494 males and 51 females.
Also, the Hong Kong government, through its Principal Information Officer (Public Relations Unit), Mr. Marenda Lo, told National Mirror that there were 23 Nigerian inmates in the country’s jail houses as at May 28, 2013.
The Spanish Embassy in Nigeria said as at February 27, 2013 there were 585 Nigerians imprisoned in Spain.
The Comptroller-General of Nigerian Prisons, Mr. Zakari Ibrahim, said the number of Nigerians in US prisons, two years ago was estimated to be around 800, and the number must have increased by now. “The situation now poses a serious concern,” he said.
To further highlight the high rate of Nigerians in foreign prisons, Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Alhaji Aminu Wali, recently said, “Right now, we have over 400 Nigerians in various jails in China and 80 per cent of them are drug-related offences.”
The above data portray Nigerians as among the highest number of Africans serving terms abroad. This may have connection with the increasing number of Nigerians who are caught with drugs.
For instance, the data the British government gave National Mirror shows that while there are 545 Nigerians in prisons in England and Wales alone, there are only 84 South Africans, 50 Kenyans, 143 Ghanaians, 13 Egyptians, two Togolese, and two Beninoise there.
Nigeria no doubt is the most populous country in Africa, but the percentage difference of her citizens incarcerated in foreign prisons when compared with those of other nationals is very high.
Furthermore, from the same data, it is seen that Somalia having 408 of her citizens jailed in England is next to Nigeria. There may be a correlation between the rates of incarceration of Africans in foreign prisons with the corruption index rankings of each country. Somalia since 2008 has occupied the number one position as the world’s most corrupt nation, according to the Transparency International corruption perception indexes.
Nigeria too is not far from the bottom; ranking 35th last year. Many Nigerians have damned the consequences and are caught with drugs, even in countries where death penalty is the price for drug peddling.
To further buttress the above point, Director-General of the NDLEA, Femi Ajayi, told the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Matters recently that Nigeria had more of her citizens in foreign prisons than any other African country.
Ajayi said over 6,000 Nigerians were serving various jail terms across the globe. He listed some countries where Nigerians were incarcerated for drugs offences, including Iran (with 4,000 Nigerians), Brazil (500), Thailand (500) and Malaysia (300). Ajayi said the list was more than that “but that is what we have for now.”
Apart from the get-rich-quick syndrome, ignorance and the urge to circumvent immigration laws have further increased the number of Nigerians in foreign jails.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in her paper delivered recently during the NIIA 13th Brainstorming Session, tagged “The Plight of Nigerians in Foreign Prisons: The Challenge of Transformation” said many Nigerians settle for illegal arrangements in obtaining required travel documents.
“They employ all manners of pranks to beat immigration laws and ultimately regret their actions,” Abike-Erewa said.
She said in extreme cases, like in China, where over 2,000 Nigerians are said to be languishing in various jails, when they are caught with expired documents, they are dumped in jail and rather than deported home, they request that they pay $5,000.”
Director General of the NIIA, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, also bemoaned the situation whereby in Nigeria, going to prison is seen as no big deal. “Serving a jail term under normal circumstance is supposed to have a negative impact. One does something wrong, he is incarcerated. But in Nigeria if one goes to prison, he comes back, he is honoured, celebrated and given chieftaincy titles. Then how would one explain such type of imprisonment?,” Akinterinwa asked.
The NIIA DG continued, “We have two types of prisoners; those that have been tried and convicted and those still awaiting trials. When we looked at it, we see that the numbers are increasing. We really want to find out how many Nigerians have been tried and lawfully convicted, as oppose to those who may have engaged in immigration offences and are still waiting trials; during the process they are mistreated. So the situation is such that if government would succeed in its transformation agenda, there is the need to begin with an analyses and a review of our attitudinal approach.”
Contacted, the Chairman, Board of Trustees for Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Europe, Hon. Collins Nweke, also bemoaned the state of prisons in Nigeria and gave reasons why Nigerian prisoners in foreign countries have been rejecting moves of government to bring them back home to complete their terms.
According to Nweke, “The situation where some Nigerians in foreign prisons would rather die there, as it were, than return to Nigeria, should be seen beyond the surface.
“It is perhaps an indication of how bad things are socio-economically and otherwise in the country. It’s however important to put the problem in the right context. This represents an insignificant number of Nigerians and I hope we are not making it look as if it’s rampant because it’s not.”
On why many Nigerians are in jail abroad, Nweke replied, “I’m not sure about greed being a motivation for the behaviour of these fellow Nigerians. I’d rather pin it down to poverty and frustration. The last time I checked the poverty rate of the country it stood at some 70per cent of the population while youth unemployment was a whopping 42 per cent mainly graduates.
“In the 1980s and 1990s, Nigerians left the country in droves due to military misrule. The decades from 2000 to 2020 will perhaps be characterised by brain drain occasioned by poverty and frustration. Some of these figures really challenge and embarrass unrepentant believers in the potentials of the country like me.
“The revolutionary wave of violent and non-violent demonstrations that has rocked the Arab world since December 2010 was motivated by indignation to youth unemployment. As we speak, Egypt is still burning to the point that President Morsi is in house arrest. This must be a reason for concern by Nigerian leaders. They need to be seen to be squarely addressing the unacceptably high youth unemployment and poverty to curb situations like young Nigerians preferring to die in foreign prisons than return home”
Nweke added, “However let’s not make it look like this is an exclusive Nigerian malaise. Even in developed economies you find isolated cases of individuals who for a combination of reasons find the prison safer. As Counsellor for Social Affairs here in Belgium, I’ve been confronted with situations of constituents who purposely re-offend in the winter so they would be sent back to jail. Reason is that on their own, they can’t pay for heating and other expenses. But at least in prison, they’d be taken care of. I guess that such situations are somewhat comparable to Nigerians in foreign prisons who’d rather do their time there than being repatriated back to Nigeria.
“Even prisoners have fundamental human rights that need to be respected. The Nigerian Government through its Embassies and High Commissions should at least ensure that the basic rights of prisoners of Nigerian origin are respected; right to defense, right to a fair trial, respect for bodily integrity, et cetera. We know that such rights are respected to the letters if the foreign prison authorities know that the government of the foreign prisoner has not looked away.”
While some countries like the United Kingdom are lamenting the increasing costs for catering for foreign prisoners, they have started fashioning out policy that will make speedy transfer of prisoners back to their countries. In this view, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently admitted that too many foreign prisoners are in his country and that Britain is “helping to build prisons in their countries so that more foreign prisoners can be sent back home.”
Already, the Nigerian government is making moves for speedy conclusion of the Prison Transfer Agreement (PTA) it has with European countries. Foreign Minister, Ambassador Ashiru, told Heads of Nigerian Missions in Europe at a seminar recently in Berlin, Germany, that talks were on towards reaching the agreement.
”One strategy we need to deliberate upon to ameliorate the plight of Nigerian prisoners is the prospect of concluding the PTA. This includes the legal framework for orderly repatriation of Nigerians who have lost their rights to remain in their host countries,” he said.
However, Nweke has denounced any planned move to transfer Nigerians from foreign prisons back home. “As an association, we condemn the move in its totality,” he said, adding “The move is a bad arrangement as it does not reflect the real essence of going to jail. Serving a jail term is a punishment for a crime committed; afterwards, prisoners are expected to be reintegrated back to society. So when they try to deport them back to their countries of origin, they are challenged by the judicial system. Since they cannot accomplish that, they are now seeking illicit cooperation of African governments.”
Legal luminary, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, supports Nweke’s stand, arguing that Nigerian prisons are overstretched and if Nigerians in foreign prisons are brought home, this would create more problems.
Falana said it is illegal to go abroad and sign foreign prison exchange programme without the consent of the prisoners. He further argues that instead of seeking transfer of these prisoners to Nigeria, preventing fresh incidences should be government’s priority in its campaigns.
Hon. Dabiri-Erewa also recommends that government should embark on massive awareness programmes on dangers involved in illegal migration, while Nigerian embassies should issue educational materials to citizens arriving in their host countries on what to expect.
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